Here In America, We Rub Some Dirt On It

  Ashburn (Sept. 9, 2009) - If you judge a game by smiles, then the NFL Flag Football "friendship game" played with players from China and the local NOVA Youth Flag Football league was the Super Bowl of success.
  The game, played on Labor Day at the fields located at Virginia Academy Community Church, was filmed as part of the NFL Blitz television show and will be aired in an upcoming episode.
  A group of Chinese students visiting NFL training camps over the summer were given a crash training course on the basics of flag football and then mixed between two teams made up of NOVA Youth Flag Football athletes. An exhibition game was played in what turned out to be a light rain at times.
  NOVA Youth Flag Football League President Steve D'Argenio -- an accomplished poker player who has cashed in at professional events including the 2007 World Series of Poker! -- helped organize a fun event that included smiles all around -- from the visiting players from China who really got into the spirit of the game, and from the local kids.
  At one point, D'Argenio could be seen administering some advice to a Chinese player that had been bruised. D'Argenio picked up some dirt and told the player that "here in America we rub some dirt on it."
  That is advice D'Argenio's son Ray could appreciate. Ray is a starting cornerback this year for defending AA Division 4 state champion Broad Run, and one of several Spartans who graduated from the NOVA Youth Flag Football program into the tackles ranks.